Sideways
by Everlude
Summary: Meeting Taro gave her the idea. Getting shipwrecked gave her the chance. Now she's giving ranching a go. You could say Chelsea's life has been turned just a little bit sideways.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harvest Moon.

**Note:** For those of you reading my other stories that happen to check this out...sorry. This story took over my head and won't let me write anything else. On the good side, my writer's block is gone.

* * *

**Sideways**

Meeting Taro gave her the idea. Getting shipwrecked gave her the chance. Now she's giving ranching a go.

You could say Chelsea's life has been turned just a little bit sideways.

* * *

**Chapter One**

The city port, usually a place bustling with activity, was fairly quiet. In the soft glow of the morning sun people made their way about with a brisk step, intent on their destinations. A few stifled yawns, feet shuffling and dragging along the boardwalk –many of these were sailors who had recently docked from a night voyage and were ready to be home in their warm safe beds.

Sea birds landed on the wooden walkways, strutting around as they searched for deserted scraps of food which would become more plentiful as the day went on.

Passing by the sea birds, Chelsea whistled a nonsense tune, her brown hair dancing lightly in the breeze as she walked leisurely across the port to the boat the ticket in her hand indicated. Unlike many of the people around her, she had no reason to hurry. It would be a little over an hour before her boat departed, so she had plenty of time to enjoy the scenery of the docks.

After checking in, receiving the key to her room, and dropping her stuff off, Chelsea found herself up on the deck watching the sailors move around getting the ship ready for departure.

Moving off to the side of the ship to avoid being in the way, Chelsea spotted another, smaller boat docked next to the one she was on. Sitting in the middle of the small sail boat's deck was a young man roughly her age if she had to guess. Wavy strands of brown hair spilled from beneath his purple bandana while his chocolate eyes focused on the work of his hands which looked busy repairing a fishing net.

For several moments Chelsea thought the young man had a deformed shoulder until the deformity moved on its own and she realized with surprise that is wasn't a deformity, but a little black bird. The bird's feathers were the same color as the young man's tank top, allowing it to blend in quite well if it didn't move and had its eyes closed.

The bird, as if it could sense it was being watched, turned its head towards her and blinked. Smiling, Chelsea whistled a few notes in greeting only to blink in surprise when the bird answered her by copying the notes she'd used exactly. Sure, sometimes birds would sing back to her, but none of them had ever repeated what she'd originally whistled to them.

The young man stopped what he was doing to look at the bird on his shoulder, confused. Chelsea could see him talking to it, but couldn't hear his voice. The bird seemed to respond to the young man who after a few moments shook his head as if in exasperation and went back to working on his nets. The bird though, turned its attention back to Chelsea, blinking and staring at her as if it was expecting something.

When Chelsea didn't do anything, the bird eventually repeated the notes from before. Chuckling, Chelsea repeated the notes and added a few new ones to the end which seemed to delight the small bird as it whistled back the extended tune. The young man had stopped his work again, seeming thoroughly perplexed at the bird's seemingly sudden tune making.

Feeling bad although the sight was amusing, Chelsea whistled the tune again, drawing the young man's attention. His eyes narrowed for a moment until she repeated the notes again only for the bird on his shoulder to copycat her; then his eyes opened wide with realization and he seemed to be laughing, a large grin on his face.

Grinning back, Chelsea waved at the young man. "You know there's still a bit of time before we depart Miss. There's no rule saying you have to stay on the ship until it leaves," one of the sailors from the ship said in passing who'd watched the entire exchange between her and the bird.

Nodding, Chelsea slipped down the deck and crossed the gang plank, dodging a family of four who were just checking in. Within a minute she was standing next to the young man's boat, looking up at him from the dock. There was an amused look on his face.

"I was wondering why Popper here was being so talkative. Normally he's pretty quiet unless he's mimicking me." Reaching out the young man grabbed Chelsea's hand and helped her jump aboard. "The name's Denny. Can I ask who you are?"

Smiling, Chelsea introduced herself. "So, Popper's this little guy, right?" she asked, tilting her head ever so slightly to the side as she studied the bird.

"Popper! Popper!" the bird chirped happily. Shocked, Chelsea burst out laughing, "I didn't think you could talk!" Popper just let out a noise that Chelsea could only guess was his way of laughing.

"Talk, sing, whistle –this little guy does it all," Denny explained fondly before scrunching his face a bit. "Weird though, it's rare for him to copy people besides me. He'll talk to 'em sometimes, but never mimic."

"I just sort of have a way with animals sometimes," Chelsea replied lightly, taking a look around the boat. "So is this boat all yours?"

"Yep, sure is." The pride was hard to miss in Denny's voice. "I've owned her for a while now, and she carries me wherever I want to go. There's nothing like life on the sea when you've got a good boat like this one."

Walking over to the nets Denny had been working on earlier, Chelsea nodded. "I haven't been on too many boats, but the ocean is always really nice and relaxing. Are these fishing nets?" Joining Chelsea, Denny nodded.

"Yep. Normally I'd be out fishing right now, but today I'm doing maintenance on all my equipment." Sitting down, Denny started looking over the net. "What about you? Do you fish?"

Making herself comfortable on the deck of Denny's ship, Chelsea shook her head.

"I've gone fishing a handful of times, but I've never really lived near anywhere I could go fishing. Plus, all the fishing I've done was with a rod, not all this stuff that you've got." Laughing, Denny nodded as Popper chirped, "Not this stuff!"

"You have to be a true fisherman to head out to sea in a boat and fish with nets like I do. It lets me catch lots of fish that I could never catch with just a rod. I'm actually looking for somewhere new to dock with new fish that I haven't caught before. You wouldn't happen to know any good places?" Undoing a tangle in his net with deft fingers, Denny glance over at Chelsea hopefully, but she only shook her head.

"Sorry, I haven't heard of anything like that." Denny sighed before waving it off.

"That's alright. So, what about you? That boat you were on is headed to some pretty far off places. You got plans or somethin'?"

Leaning back on her arms, Chelsea stared up at a pair of sea birds circling in the sky for a few moments before answering. "Hm…not really. I'm just kinda gonna keep going until I find a place to start fresh. I'm tired of my life being the way it is, so I thought traveling around and making a new one somewhere else sounded like a fun idea." Chuckling awkwardly, Chelsea glanced over a Denny. "Sounds a bit strange, huh?"

Shaking his head, Denny smirked. "Not at all. I get like that too which is why I find a new port to settle at every couple of months. Lucky for me the sea is vast, so I should never run out of new places, and as long as I have Popper here with me I don't have to worry about getting lonely."

"Lonely, lonely," Popper chirped. Smirking, Chelsea was about to say something when a call of "all aboard that's coming aboard" came from her boat. An hour had passed by faster than she'd thought. Getting to her feet, Chelsea hopped off Denny's boat.

"Hey, good luck finding a new life," Denny called after her.

"New life, new life," Popper chirped before repeating Chelsea's notes from before.

"Thanks you two, and good luck with your fishing Denny. Maybe we'll meet again someday!" Waving, Chelsea managed to slip back onto her boat just before they pulled the gangplank up.

"Calling it a bit close there Miss," the sailor from earlier said with a smirk. Nodding, Chelsea stood at the ship's railing and watched the port and Denny's ship grow smaller and smaller until they were nothing but a spec and eventually vanished.

Not wanting to waste such a nice day, Chelsea found a comfy lounge chair on the top deck to relax on, enjoying the warm sunbeams. The warmth and steady rocking of the boat coupled with the soothing sound of the ocean quickly put her to sleep until she was woken up several hours later by a sailor so she could go to dinner.

Inside the dining room, Chelsea found an empty seat at a table with four other people. They seemed somewhat familiar and it took her a minute to realize they'd been getting on the boat when she'd gotten off. "Is this seat taken?" she asked, directing her question to the eldest of the group, an old man with a bald head and sharp eyes shaded by bushy white eyebrows which matched his mustache, to show respect.

"Nope. Feel free to take a seat young un." Smiling and nodding her thanks, Chelsea sat down. It had been a long time since anyone had called her a 'young un'. "My name's Taro," the old man introduced himself, "and this is my family."

"I'm Chelsea. It's nice to meet you."

"Oh, Chelsea, that's such a pretty name," the woman at the table said with a sweet smile. Her long pink hair was pulled back with a fancy braid of sorts for decoration. She was very nice looking in Chelsea's opinion. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Felicia, Taro's daughter, and these are my two children, Elliot and Natalie."

Nodding to the other two, it wasn't hard to see that they were related to each other and their mother. The pink hair gene was obviously a dominant family trait. The boy, Elliot, nodded shyly while Natalie came off much more aloof, giving a nod and staring coolly at Chelsea, making her wonder if she wasn't welcome. She was glad that the open seat was between Taro and Felicia so she didn't have to sit next to Natalie.

"So Chelsea, where are you heading? This boat stops a lot of different places." Glad that Felicia had distracted her attention, Chelsea explained how she was looking for somewhere new to settle down and start fresh. "Is that so? What a coincidence! That's exactly what we're doing."

"Really? How come?"

"I'm sick of crowded places. That's why," Taro declared with a passion. "I spent most of my life on a ranch. Can't stand having people pushing in on me from all sides, so we're going to find a small town somewhere to take up residence."

Curious, Chelsea shifted in her seat so she was facing more towards Taro. "You were a rancher? That's so neat! What was your ranch like? Did you just grow crops or did you own livestock too?" Her questions made Taro look so happy she wouldn't be surprised if he started floating out of his seat.

"Oh, did you have to ask that? Now he's never going to shut up." The snide comment came from Natalie, but Taro either didn't hear her or was just ignoring her. Thumping his chest proudly with his fist he began to tell Chelsea all about being a rancher.

"When I first started out, the ranch I'd bought was in poor shape, but that's the reason I could afford to buy it. Things were bad, but I knew with some elbow grease and determination I could turn that old farm around and make a living from it."

Groaning, Natalie got up and left the table to go get her food from the small buffet that had just opened up. After a moment Elliot followed after her. It was obvious to Chelsea neither of them was overly interested in their grandfather's story, or maybe they'd both just heard it too many times to want to hear it again.

"Ah, I'm sorry. You probably don't want to hear an old man's story," Taro sighed sadly as he watched his grandchildren walking off. Shaking her head, Chelsea reached over and grabbed one of Taro's old weather beaten hands and clasped it between both of hers.

"I love hearing stories about people's lives, and I'd love to hear yours. I was almost too little to remember my grandpa when he passed away, but I have a few pictures of him on a ranch that he ran and owned. My dad was never very fond of ranch life and doesn't have much to say about it, but I'd love to know what it's like to be a rancher. Maybe after dinner you could tell me about it?"

"You're not just trying to patronize an old man are you?" Taro asked, but Chelsea could tell he didn't really believe the words himself. She couldn't blame him, all her life she'd been told she that she just gave off this honest aura that made it nearly impossible to doubt what she was saying. Giving Taro's hand a quick squeeze, Chelsea shook her head lightly back and forth.

Smiling, Felicia stood and left the table while Chelsea remained silent, politely letting Taro regather himself. His eyes look almost watery at her words, and he clasped her hand in a surprisingly strong grip for one so old. "I'd be happy to tell you about it Chelsea," he said after gruffly clearing his throat.

Dinner was rather uneventful after that although Natalie stared at Chelsea like she'd grown a second head when she found out that Chelsea actually wanted to hear her grandpa's story. Elliot tried to start a polite conversation to cover up for his sister's rude behavior, but that only made Natalie angrier. By the end of the meal Chelsea had a newfound respect for Felicia who had to put up with the siblings bickering on a daily basis. On the other hand, it made her sad to see the two of them fighting so much.

"I know this isn't exactly my place to say anything, but I don't think you two should fight so much," Chelsea finally commented as the meal was winding down. Natalie gave an angry huff and even Elliot seemed a bit put off.

"Mind your own business!" Natalie snapped. "It's not like you're little Miss Perfect. I bet you fight with your siblings all the time!" Her words stung, but Chelsea brushed them off as best she could while Felicia chided her daughter.

"I'd never claim to be perfect Natalie," Chelsea told the other girl when Felicia was finished scolding her, "and maybe I would fight with my siblings…if I had any." At her words a strange silence filled the table before Natalie snapped again.

"See? You don't even have any siblings, so what are you doing trying to tell us how we should act? Just because you're older than us doesn't mean you can tell us what to do!" Shoving in her chair roughly, Natalie left the dining room in a huff.

"I won't be as rude as Natalie, but I have to kind of agree with her on this one," Elliot said after a moment, getting up and pushing in his chair.

"You two!" Taro snapped after them.

"I'm sorry Chelsea," Felicia said, placing her hand on Chelsea's shoulder. "My children can be a bit…"

"It's fine Felicia. Sorry for riling them up even if I didn't mean to. I feel bad that you have to put up with that bickering all the time." Folding up her napkin, Felicia smiled as she laid it next to her plate.

"The arguing does get tiring, but at least as long as they're arguing I know they're both healthy and well. I think I'm going to go for a stroll around the deck now. I just love a nice walk." Biding Felicia goodbye, it was just Chelsea and Taro left at the table. Most of the rest of the dining room had also emptied out.

"So…" Chelsea said a few moments of silence had passed. "Do I still get to hear the adventures of Taro the rancher?"

Sitting in the dining room as the ship's staff cleaned up, listening to Taro's stories, Chelsea found herself being completely enthralled by them. It was simply amazing the things Taro had accomplished in his life. One minute she could be laughing as he told about when all of his chickens got loose and ran into town, and the next she was grinning as he told about winning his first horse race, leaning forward eagerly as he described the final seconds when he managed to pull into the lead.

Before she knew it, the clock in the dining room read almost midnight and she was fighting back yawn after yawn. "Wow Taro, your life is so incredible. Living on a ranch sounds like a lot of hard work, but it also sounds really fun."

Nodding proudly, Taro seemed to be overflowing with happiness at the rapt attention his stories had received. "I'd be happy to tell you more about it tomorrow if you'd like."

"Really? I was going to ask, but I didn't want to impose," Chelsea said happily as they walked down the ship's halls to their rooms. "There's so much more I'd like to hear about."

"And I'd be happy to tell you about it. I just wish my grandchildren were as interested as you are." Laughing embarrassedly, Chelsea stopped outside her room.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow then Taro. Have a nice night." The old man nodded and walked down the hall whistling a happy tune which sounded familiar to her. She'd have to ask Taro what the song was tomorrow.

It was just as she was sitting down on her bed to take her red boots off that the storm hit.

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Well? Did you like it?

My goal is to avoid the rather cliche storyline most Chelsea fics seem to have.

Let me know what you think. Just click the review button below. =)


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harvest Moon.

**Special Thanks** to The Rune Reverend for my first and, so far, only review. If you guys have any free time go and check out his stories. =)

* * *

**Sideways**

Meeting Taro gave her the idea. Getting shipwrecked gave her the chance. Now she's giving ranching a go.

You could say Chelsea's life has been turned just a little bit sideways.

* * *

**Chapter Two**

A cold sweat covered Chelsea's forehead as she twisted and turned violently on her small bed. Her forehead was creased in worry and her breathing turned ragged as her flailing grew more and more restricted as her sheets tangled up around her body, preventing her from moving freely. Suddenly, her breathing stopped for several seconds before she sat bolt-upright in her bed, gasping and panting for breath.

Pivoting her head around rapidly, it took several long moments for Chelsea to realize it had only been a nightmare. In the two weeks since she'd washed up on the beach, shipwrecked from the terrible storm, she'd had nightmares about drowning and the storm every couple of nights. This was one of those nights.

Slowly untangling herself from the mess of sheets, Chelsea got out of bed, lit a candle she kept on her nightstand, and walked into her small bathroom, splashing water on her face and drying it off with a towel. Walking back out, she stripped the sheets off her bed and began remaking it. When it was done, she sat down on its edge. Getting back in bed would be pointless. She already knew that she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep for a while.

The clock on her nightstand read two in the morning. Too early to get up and start working. Sighing, Chelsea stared out the window at the moon. Two weeks. It hardly seemed real at times. She'd been looking for a new life, but she hadn't expected to find that new life after being shipwrecked with Taro and his family on a deserted island.

Maybe it was just luck, or maybe it was fate, but after hearing Taro talk about his young days as a rancher, Chelsea had been interested in trying it out for herself but hadn't thought she'd ever get the chance. As things would have it, on the island was a rundown and abandoned ranch which she now called home. The house's condition was fine for being so old, but the field was requiring lots of work to farm it, and if there ever was a coop or barn, there wasn't now.

Picking up the book she'd been reading before she went to bed, Chelsea flipped it open to her spot and started reading. The book wasn't the most exciting, but the only books really on the island were ones that had been found in the abandoned buildings. Taro had found a few about farming, and given them to her to read. The book in her hands titled How to Have a Green Thumb was all about the proper care of plants.

_When growing potatoes it is important to not overwater. Overwatering will cause the potatoes to rot while they are in the ground, but if not enough water is given the potatoes will not grow, and will be small and hard. To know how much to water a potato pay close attention to the soil color around it. The soil should be slightly dark and easy to work with, but not muddy. When the potato is nearing harvest time…_

Letting out a big yawn, Chelsea shut the book after marking her place, and returned the book to her nightstand before crawling back under the covers. Taro had been more than happy to tell her what he knew and remembered about growing different types of crops, so she'd already heard most of what the book had to say. Still, it couldn't hurt to read it, and it always helped her feel sleepy at night.

Blowing out the candle, Chelsea pulled the covers up to her chin and snuggled into her pillow. The next time she woke up the sun was streaming through the windows of the farmhouse and the clock on her nightstand read a little after six in the morning.

Getting up Chelsea had a sparse breakfast of cold oatmeal. After washing off her breakfast dishes, she headed outside to tend to her crops. Dragging the old watering can from the stream to her crops and back again multiple times took most of the morning even though she'd planted her crops as close to the small river as possible.

Taking a break when she was done, Chelsea pulled off her boots and dangled her feet it the cool water, leaning back on her hands. If she wasn't mistaken it would only take another day or two and her crops would be ready to harvest. She'd have to go ask Taro to come and take a look at them. She didn't want to be wrong and start harvesting her crops too early.

Feeling her stomach tightening uncomfortably as it let out a growl, Chelsea grimaced. For all the work that she was doing on the ranch she wasn't getting nearly enough to eat. Not that she had much choice though. Things on the island were scarce even with the general store that had opened up three days ago and was being run by a man named Chen and his son Charlie.

Feeling annoyed, Chelsea put her boots back on and started the walk into town -if you could call it that since it was so small. Hopefully, Taro would have good news about her crops so she could harvest them soon and add a little bit of variety to her meals.

Stopping at the front door to Taro's house which also functioned as the family's shipping business that they'd started to make a profit shipping the things she grew and found, Chelsea knocked on the door before entering. She'd already been told several times that she didn't need to knock and wait for someone to let in her, but to just come in. That felt wrong, so Chelsea had settled for knocking and letting herself in which seemed to satisfy the family.

Inside Felicia was standing at the kitchen sink while Taro sat at the kitchen table. Elliot and Natalie were nowhere to be seen, so Chelsea assumed they were either in their rooms, or outside somewhere.

Greeting them both with a friendly hello and a smile, Chelsea joined Taro at the table where the old man was wiping down a long piece of wood with a cloth.

"What's that Taro?" Chelsea asked curiously.

Stopping what he was doing, Taro smiled. "This is an old fishing pole that I found. I'm cleaning it up now. I was actually going to come up to the ranch later and see if you'd like it. Fishing could help you earn a little profit while your crops are growing, and you could also eat some of what you catch." Holding out the old rod towards Chelsea, Taro smiled and nodded approvingly when she hesitantly took it from his hands.

Examining it, Chelsea could see that while the rod was old, it was good and sturdy. The thought of a little extra money and food on the table was definitely appealing. "Are you sure it's okay for me to have it Taro?"

"Of course!" he declared, thumping his chest with a fist. "As soon as Felicia is done making lunch and we eat, I can come up to the ranch with you and show you how to use it." Nodding, Chelsea smiled. She already knew the basics of how to fish, but she'd let Taro teach her all the same. It was easy to tell that he loved sharing his knowledge and she wasn't about to hurt his feelings by refusing his help. Besides, there was always the chance that there was some small trick he knew that she didn't.

"That sounds like a plan to me. I actually came down here to see if you could come look at my crops since I think they're almost ready to harvest. We can kill two birds with one stone this way."

"Are your crops really almost ready to harvest?" Felicia asked curiously from the sink where she was washing off some wild herbs.

"I think so. The flower buds on the potato plants have started to open up just a bit, and the turnip tops are looking big and full. The cabbage still has a few days to go though. Well, that's my opinion at least," rubbing the back of her head Chelsea smiled ruefully. "I'd still like to get an experienced opinion though. I'd hate to make a mistake and start harvesting too early or too late and ruin my crop.

"Well then, I'll have to make sure and take a look while I'm up there," Taro nodded decisively as Felicia set a plate of food in front of him and another in front of Chelsea.

"Wait Felicia, wasn't this supposed to be your plate?" Chelsea quickly said, putting a hand on Felicia's arm. "I didn't mean to impose on you during lunch." The woman smiled.

"We have enough to share. Working on the ranch can't be easy, so I'm sure you work up quite an appetite. Just bring me a few fish or crops and we'll call it even." Biting the inside of her lip, Chelsea nodded and let go. She hated to be a burden, but Felicia seemed to always see right through her. She'd make sure to catch some nice big fish and bring them down to repay Felicia for all of her kindness.

After lunch, Chelsea waited for Taro to retrieve his gnarled walking stick that he'd picked up from the beach and then the two of them made the walk up to her farm. At the sight of Chelsea's few crops, Taro nodded approvingly. Walking up to the first of the plants he bent over and looked at it, fingering the flower bud which was barely starting to open.

"Looks like you were right about your potatoes. I'd give them another two, three days at most and they'll be ready. Just watch these flowers here, and when they're all the way open your potatoes will be ripe for the picking."

Crouching down next to Taro, Chelsea nodded, suddenly thinking of something. "Taro, how do I harvest potatoes?"

Blinking Taro paused for a moment before responding. "Did I not tell you that already?" Chelsea shook her head. "Alright then, this is what you do. When your potatoes are ripe get the soil just a bit damp so it's not very hard. Then using your hands or a small trowel, you dig up around the potato."

Using his finger Taro drew a large circle in the still damp soil around the potato plant. "It may seem silly, but you'll want to dig up a big area like this. Since potatoes grow underground there's no way to tell how big they are until you pull them out. If you aren't careful you can gouge a potato without meaning to with your trowel. If you use your hands it doesn't really matter."

Nodding as the information sunk in, Chelsea inspected the circle Taro had drawn more closely to get a better idea of just how far out around the plant to go. She wasn't sure if she even had a trowel, but if she did she'd use it since it would be much easier than digging everything up by hand.

"What about turnips? Is it the same to harvest them as it is potatoes?"

Shaking his head, Taro waddled over to where her turnips where growing. "You still want to get the soil kind of wet, but turnips are a bit more persnickety than potatoes. You need to loosen up the soil around them a bit, and then take a good hold of where their leafy green tops meet the white part you eat and give them a good hard yank."

Inspecting one of the larger turnips Chelsea had managed to grow, Taro let out a satisfied 'hmm'. "This is a nice looking turnip here. I'd say you'd be good to harvest these tomorrow morning. Just make sure the soil is nice and loose when you pull them out so they don't break or get damaged. Also, make sure there aren't any rocks in the soil cause they'll hurt your turnips when you yank 'em out."

Chelsea hadn't thought about that, and immediately made a mental note of it. Rocks are bad for turnips. Next Taro inspected her Cabbage patch which like she'd though had almost another week of growing to go. Complimenting Chelsea on a job well done getting the crops to grow in the poor soil, Taro led her over to the river so he could teach her how to fish, but not before digging some worms out of the ground to use as bait.

The next hour was spent with Taro showing Chelsea how to properly bait a hook and cast a line into the water. While she didn't really learn anything new, Chelsea had fun, and by the end of her lesson she'd caught three small fish. Holding them up Chelsea smiled.

"Do you think you could take these back to Felicia and tell her thanks again for lunch?" she asked, holding the fish out to Taro who nodded as he accepted them.

"I'll make sure to do that. Now, don't forget that you can also go fishing on the beach, and you'll probably be able to make bigger catches there than here on your farm. If you don't have any other things you need to get done today, I'd recommend heading down there and trying your luck." Without another word, Taro turned around and started walking. Chelsea had quickly learned that the old man never bid goodbye. Instead he'd just suddenly up and leave.

Smiling, Chelsea spent the next half hour digging up worms and putting them in a cup to take down to the beach where she sat on the edge of the dock to fish. Charlie who was playing on the beach eventually wandered over to see how she was doing.

"Heya Lady! Did ya catch anything yet?" Smirking, Chelsea showed him the two fish she'd caught and the young boy whistled. It made Chelsea laugh. Charlie tried to act so grown up and always called her Lady even though she'd told him he didn't have to, but the look on his face at the sight of the fish was just too amusing.

"Now you're laughing at me," Charlie grumbled. Stifling her laughter, Chelsea apologized and patted the dock next to her.

"Here Charlie, why don't you sit down and tell me what kind of adventures you had today. We haven't had much of a chance to talk since you moved here."

Plopping down Charlie kicked his feet back and forth above the waves that washed below the dock. "Life's good. I like this island. There's lots of fun places to play, but…"

"But what?" Chelsea nudged, as her rod went taunt. Reeling and pulling in her line, she was disgruntled to find that instead of a fish she'd caught an old boot. Charlie burst out laughing at the sight. Grinning, Chelsea bumped the boy playfully, knocking him backwards he was laughing so hard.

Unhooking the boot, Chelsea was surprised at how heavy it felt. Turning it upside down with her hand out to catch anything that came out, she was disappointed when nothing but water came out. Giving the boot a final shake though, she heard a soft clinking noise, and then five gold coins fell out into her hand.

By now Charlie had stopped laughing and was staring at the coins in wonder. "Who'd a thought there were coins in a stinky old boot?"

"Not me," Chelsea admitted, setting the boot down on the dock, "but I'm not complaining." Drying off the coins she placed them in her russack before grabbing another worm out of the cup she'd brought and sticking it on her hook.

"Ya know something Lady, you're pretty cool."

"Oh, and why's that Charlie?" Chelsea asked as she cast her line back out into the ocean.

"Cause you don't freak out about worms and you don't mind having a kid like me hang around you." Glancing over at Charlie who seemed a bit down, realization dawned on Chelsea. The kid probably wouldn't ever say anything, but even with all the new places he had to explore, exploring them by himself had to be boring.

Chen was busy with his shop so he didn't have much time to spend with Charlie. Felicia was busy just like Chen, and Taro was probably too old in Charlie's eyes to be able to play games with. That currently left three other people on the island: herself, Elliot, and Natalie -all of whom were far older than Charlie.

"Hey Charlie, have you ever thought of asking Natalie or Elliot if they'd go exploring with you? I'm sure it would be more fun if someone went with you."

Charlie pulled a face. "Elliot's too quiet and boring, and Natalie is just scary." That made Chelsea laugh, but she had to admit Charlie's words were pretty accurate. Elliot was a nice guy she'd discovered, but he was very soft spoken and shy, and the fact that he was always being teased by Natalie gave him a very low self-esteem. Natalie on the other hand was loud, brash, and as rude as she'd been when Chelsea had first met her.

"What about you Lady? Dad said I shouldn't bug you because you're so busy with your farm, but could you maybe go exploring with me sometime?" Chelsea paused to think about it for a minute. It was true that the farm took a lot of time and energy, but all work and no play wasn't a very good idea in her book. She couldn't just abandon her chores on the farm to play either though.

"Hmm… I couldn't go exploring everyday, but I think I could manage once or twice a week."

Charlie jumped to his feet excitedly. "Really, Lady?" Chuckling, Chelsea nodded. Grinning from ear-to-ear, Charlie thanked her several times over, making her promise to let him know when she was free to explore.

Watching the small boy retreating up the beach, skipping in his happiness, Chelsea chuckled. A few hours later she made her way up the beach with a decent sized catch of fish in one hand. Most of them would be getting shipped for money, but that night she enjoyed some roast fish and herbs. It was the best meal she'd had in days, and for the first time since the shipwreck she went to bed with a full stomach.

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Well, any thoughts?

I'd like to know what everyone thinks, so make sure to click the review button below. =)


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